Book Description

One of the ways that federal regulatory agencies enforce applicable statutes and regulations is through the imposition of civil monetary penalties for violations of those statutes and regulations. The amounts of the penalties imposed can vary substantially, depending on the limits specified in the applicable statutes or regulations and the degree to which the agencies impose the maximum fines permitted. In 1996, Congress passed the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 note), which was intended to, among other things, create a more cooperative regulatory environment among agencies and small businesses that is less punitive and more solution-oriented. Section 223 of SBREFA, entitled Rights of Small Entities in Enforcement Actions, requires agencies to provide small entities (a small business, a small government, or a small organization) with some form of relief from civil monetary penalties. Specifically, subsection 223(a) of SBREFA required federal agencies regulating the activities of small entities to establish a policy or program by March 29, 1997, for the reduction and, under appropriate circumstances, the waiver of civil penalties by small entities. Subsection 223(c) of the act required agencies to submit a one-time report to four congressional committees by March 29, 1998, on the scope of their programs or policies, the number of enforcement actions against small entities that qualified or failed to qualify for the SBREFA program or policy, and the total amount of penalty reductions and waivers. You asked us to examine the implementation of section 223 of SBREFA and issues related to civil penalty enforcement in selected agencies.